About this Dish
Bowl-shaped crispy rice flour and coconut milk pancakes — the edges thin and crunchy, the centre soft and spongy. Eaten for breakfast with an egg cooked in the centre, or with sambols and curries. String hoppers — steamed rice noodle nests — are the other great Sri Lankan breakfast staple. Both are made from the same fermented rice batter.
IngredientsServes 2
🌾Raw white rice flour, 2 cups
🥥Thick coconut milk, 1½ cups
💧Warm water, ½ cup (plus more as needed)
🍚Cooked white rice, 3 tablespoons (helps with fermentation)
🧂Salt, 1 teaspoon
🍬Sugar, 1 teaspoon
🍺Active dry yeast, ½ teaspoon
🥚Eggs, 4 (one per hopper, optional)
Method
1
In a blender, combine the cooked rice, ½ cup warm water, sugar, and yeast. Blend until smooth, then stir in the rice flour and coconut milk to form a thick, smooth batter. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to ferment at room temperature for 8–12 hours or overnight — the batter should smell slightly tangy and have small bubbles on the surface.2
Before cooking, thin the batter with a little warm water until it is the consistency of thin cream. Stir in the salt. The batter should flow easily but still coat the back of a spoon.3
Heat a small wok or traditional hopper pan (appa chatty) over medium-high heat and lightly grease with a little coconut oil. Pour in about 3–4 tablespoons of batter, then quickly pick up the pan and swirl it so the batter coats the sides in a thin layer, leaving a thicker pool in the centre.4
Place the lid on the pan and cook for 2–3 minutes. The edges should turn golden and crispy while the centre stays soft and slightly spongy. If making egg hoppers, crack an egg into the centre straight after swirling the batter, replace the lid, and cook until the white is just set.5
Slide the hopper out with a spatula or loosen the edges gently — it should release cleanly if properly cooked. Repeat with remaining batter, re-greasing the pan between each one.6
Serve immediately while the edges are still crispy, alongside coconut sambol, seeni sambol, dhal curry, or simply a squeeze of lime. Hoppers are best eaten fresh from the pan.User Reviews
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